Lower balljoint boot is torn

How big of a deal is this?

Truck is a low low miles 2010 so i get some stuff will be wearing out.

Lower portion of the rubber on both lower ball joints have split. Is this a big deal or need to replace asap?

 

It will be when you lose the grease.

 

A replacement boot is a couple of bucks. If you leave it then eventually water and dirt will get in and ruin the ball joint.

 

Im guessing you gotta pull the lca off the spindle to replace boot?

 

If it was me I would replace the ball joint. They aren't that expensive but if they fail your wheel will most likely fall off while driving down the road. Unless you know for certain that the joint hasn't got any wear it wouldn't be worth saving a few bucks to me.

My neighbor lost the driver's side lower ball joint on his 2002 Tundra and said it was all he could do to keep it on the road. They have a thick cast steel piece riveted to the sheet metal arm that the ball joint bolts to. He wore off the nut, the stud end of the ball joint, and a part of that cast iron piece. The upper joint held as well as the steering linkage. But the wheel turned 90 degrees, yanked out the wire for the anti-lock brake sensor and the fender got pretty dented from the wheel pushing against it. The 2nd gen is set up differently but I still wouldn't risk it to save a few bucks.

 

Totally, i should have asked better. If it was replace asap or if it could wait a month while i take care of other projects

 

If it's good then a month shouldn't be a problem. If the boot ripped and dirt got in there than it could fail tomorrow. The only way to tell is to get the pressure off of it so you can see if there's any play. On my neighbor's truck he said the steering wheel didn't seam to want to return to center when you let go of it while driving. He jacked it up and it felt tight and the boot was fine so he couldn't see what the grease looked like. If you don't easily have the means then a garage could do it for you but at that point in time you might as well have them replace it. Sorry I can't answer your question, all I can do is tell you what happens when it fails. Personally unless I was confident that the joint was fine I wouldn't wait very long. Back in the good old days you could pump some grease into it through the zerk and push out and see what the "bad" grease looked like as it came out.